Somma at New Bahru has introduced Vendemmia, the second chapter in Chef-Partner Mirko Febbrile’s annual exploration of Puglia. Named after the Italian word for “harvest”, the menu looks at the point when summer begins to ease, the first rains return and the region’s produce reaches its seasonal peak.

Rather than treating harvest simply as a celebration of abundance, Vendemmia focuses on the work and traditions behind it. The courses move through forests, agricultural plains, orchards and coastlines, drawing on the ways ingredients are gathered, preserved and shared across Puglia. Local Singapore producers also feature in several dishes, placing the regional Italian narrative alongside ingredients grown closer to home.

From Gargano’s Forests to Puglia’s Fields

The meal opens with Subterranean, an indigenous mushroom broth developed with Singapore mycological farm Bewilder. Eight mushroom varieties are used, including bodhi mushrooms from East Coast Park and old-man mushrooms from Woodlands that are cultivated exclusively for Somma. The mushrooms are simmered with thyme and finished with Coratina extra-virgin olive oil.

Monacelle follows with locally and sustainably farmed snails, a nod to the snails traditionally eaten in Puglia as the weather cools. They are cooked into a ragù with bay leaf, wine, garlic and cherry tomatoes, then paired with Sila potatoes from Calabria. The potatoes are lacto-fermented and hand-kneaded for a chewy texture before being boiled, grilled and finished in ashes, with Pesto alla Genovese and seasonal Baenki caviar.

The menu then turns towards Puglia’s agricultural history. Ancient Grains centres on grano arso, or burnt wheat, which has roots in the practice of collecting grains left in the fields after harvest. This season’s version pairs a crisp pumpkin flower filled with whipped ricotta and Cetara anchovies with sourdough made from semola, carob and burnt wheat. It is served with Coratina olive oil from Febbrile’s family harvest in Puglia.

Family Ritual is built around the Southern Italian custom of turning the last ripe tomatoes of summer into passata. Somma interprets that tradition with raw Mediterranean bluefin tuna, concentrated San Marzano tomatoes and yellow nectarine, alongside a lightly savoury sorbet made with Roma and Datterini tomatoes.

Sea, Mountains and Plains

Puglia’s position between the Adriatic and Ionian seas is reflected in Two Seas. Blue lobster is grilled over almond wood and served with ember-cooked razor clams. A koji-enriched lobster porridge is reduced with razor clam broth, while garum made from the lobster heads, claws and fat brings an Asian fermentation technique into the dish.

High Altitude briefly moves north to the Italian Alps, where the seasonal change is expressed through beetroot bottoni filled with Alpine pasture goat’s milk Robiola. The pasta is cooked in latticello, linking the dish back to the cheesemaking process, before being finished with tangerine gem oil.

Returning south, Plains draws from the Tavoliere, one of Italy’s major agricultural areas. Somma’s signature spaghettone is made with ancient Khorasan wheat and cooked in a highly concentrated red carrot sauce; the kitchen reduces 20kg of carrots to about one litre. Mantis shrimp bisque, slow-cooked whelks and Ossetra caviar bring the coast into a dish otherwise rooted in the region’s wheat and vegetable farms.

The savoury courses finish with Embers, Somma’s milk-fed lamb cooked slowly over almond wood. It is served with a jus made from roasted lamb bones and malt, together with pasture greens and wild herbs dressed in malt vinaigrette. Guests are encouraged to eat the course with their hands, echoing the communal style of food cooked and shared around a fire.

Pears, Figs and Puglian Sweets

Pastry Director Jeanette Ow leads the final stretch of the menu. Nectar combines Conference pear with a sorbet of Italian white grapes, green apple and kaffir lime, alongside pears compressed with linden flowers, citrus and vanilla. Yoghurt foam, linden honey and pear granita complete the dessert.

In Fig Groves, fresh Solliès figs are served in a crisp gavotte shell with fig leaf and coconut sorbet, fig and raspberry compote, and warm fig-leaf and vanilla crème anglaise. Vendemmia then closes with Dolci Pugliesi: three small bites inspired by the Puglian pantry, including a tarallo-style cannoli with sheep’s milk ricotta and Amalfi lemon zest, a Coratina olive oil pâte de fruit coated in matcha chocolate and green olives, and a carob cracker filled with carob gianduja.

The Somma Cheese Experience

For an additional S$52++, diners can add the Somma Cheese Experience in the restaurant’s wine cellar. The selection changes with the season and features Italian cheeses further aged in-house by Somma’s R&D team using kitchen ingredients and by-products.

For Vendemmia, the selection includes Pecorino di Farindola aged with mushroom-infused Riesling, Torta di Peghera with beetroot and cocoa nibs, Puglian Caciocavallo Podolico with Primitivo wine and lacto-fermented grapes, and Bluefalo with spent coffee grounds and whisky.

A Harvest-Inspired Dining Room

The seasonal concept also extends into Somma’s interiors through an installation by This Humid House. The entrance takes cues from traditional grape drying, with dried grape clusters and other botanical forms suspended overhead. Elsewhere, mushroom cultures, dried chillies and snail shells appear alongside preserved leaves, vines and palm fibre, turning the dining room into a visual interpretation of cultivated vineyards and overgrown grapevines.

Vendemmia Menu Pricing and Availability

Vendemmia is available until 12 December 2026.

Dinner
6-course menu — S$268++
8-course menu — S$358++

Saturday Lunch
4-course menu — S$178++
6-course menu — S$268++

Somma
New Bahru (School Block)
46 Kim Yam Road, #04-02
Singapore 239351

Opening hours:
Thursday – Saturday: 6:00pm – 10:30pm
Saturday lunch: 12:00pm – 3:00pm

Reservations: Book a table at Somma
Website: www.somma.world

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Images: Somma